Suspended ceiling structure



Jan.. 17, 1939. R. GuAsTAvlNo 2,143,980

' SUSPENDED CEILING STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 8, 1937A 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y EFQM.

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5% /Ep/mymu Jam.` 1-7, 1939. R. GuAsTAvxNo I SUSPENDED CEILING STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1937 Y yvucmkom GaasZ'a/v una,

Jan. 1.7, 1939. R. GUASTAWNO 2,143,980

I SUSPENDED CEILING STRUCTURE I v Filed Jan. s, 1957 3 sneets-shet 5 Patented Jan. 17, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUSPENDED CEILING STRUCTURE Application January 8,

5 Claims.

This invention relates to building construction, and has particular reference to improvements in ceilings of the suspended type composed of precast tiles or slabs of acoustical or other material.

One important object of the invention is to provide means whereby a ceiling composed of pre-cast tiles or slabs may readily and easily be constructed by unskilled labor.

Another important object of the invention is to provide for suspending pre-cast ceiling tiles or slabs either in a manner such that any individual tile or slab, or diierent predetermined tiles or slabs, may readily and easily be removed from the ceiling whenever desired and without harm to the ceiling, to afford access to the space between the ceiling and an overlying floor for any desired purpose.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the quick and easy replacement of any one or more of the tiles or slabs which may have been removed from the present ceiling.

Another important object of the invention is to provide ceiling tile or slab suspending devices which permit removal and replacement of individual or predetermined tiles or slabs without harm to the ceiling, and which are not exposed at the bottom of the tiles or slabs, whereby any necessity of applying a finishing coating of plaster to the under faces of the tiles or slabs is avoided.

Another object of the invention is to provide ceiling tile or slab suspending devices which, at their lower ends, are conned between adjacent edges of adjacent tiles or slabs, entirely abovethe bottom faces of the tiles or slabs, whereby they are protected against damage from fire.

Another object of the invention is to provide for removably, rcplaceably suspending ceiling slabs in such manner that they are held securely suspended.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood,

the same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in related viewer- Figure l is a vertical section illustrating precast ceiling tiles or slabs suspended beneath a 1937, Serial No. 119,693

floor in accordance with one practical embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but at right angles thereto.

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of one of the tiles or slabs.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of a section of a ceiling constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the present tile or slab suspending clips.

Figure 6 is a perspective View of another of the present tile or slab suspending clips.

Figures 7 and 8 are views similar to Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, illustrating an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of one of the tile or slab suspending clips employed in the Figs. '7 and 8 construction.

Figure 10 is a bottom plan view of a section of a ceiling constructed in accordance with the alternative embodiment of the invention.

Figure 11 is a cross section on the line Il--ll of Fig. 10.

Figure 12 is a cross section at right angles to Fig. 11.

Figure 13 is a perspective View of another clip employed in the alternative embodiment of the invention; and f Figure 14 is a sectional view similar to Fig. ll taken through portions of a pair of the tiles or slots S and through a complete intermediate tile or slab S2 and showing how the latter tile or slab is suspended from the former tiles or slabs.

Referring to the drawings in detail, first with particular reference to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. l to 6, I0 desighates, generally, a floor supported on steel floor beams Il of the I-beam type in accordance with common practice.

Ordinarily, floor beams are so widely spaced apart that it is not practicable to suspend Ordinary pre-cast ceiling tiles or slabs directly there- 4 and which may have said tiles or slabs suspended directly therefrom.

The present pre-cast tiles or slabs S may be either square or of elongated rectangular shape. Preferably, however, they are square. In any event, they are duplicates of one another and have formed in opposite side edge portions thereof, below their top faces and above their bottom faces, and at points suitably spaced apart along their edges, relatively narrow slots I3 which open through their edges. These slots may be of any suitable width and may extend into the tiles or slabs any suitable distances, and directly above them the edges of the tiles or slabs are recessed, as indicated at Id, so that when two of the tiles r slabs are disposed in edge to edge relationship with their edge portions below the slots I3 abutting each other, a space will exist between their edge portions above said slots.

For suspending the tiles or slabs S from the beams I2 there are employed two kinds of clips illustrated, respectively, in Figs. and 6 of the drawings and designated, respectively, as I5 and I6. These clips are formed from sheet metal of suitable width, thickness and strength and they may be of any desired length, depending upon how far below the beams I2 it may be desired to suspend the tiles or slabs S. Moreover, said clips are. substantially duplicates of each other in that each of them comprises a vertical shank I'I having at its bottom a lateral foot I8 and at its top a hook I9 formed by bending' the top portion of the shank first laterally and then downwardly. However, said clips differ from each other in that the foot I8 of the clip I5 extends from the shank Il in a direction opposite the hook I9, whereas the foot I8 of the clip? I5 extends from the shank l1 in the same -direction as the hook I9.

To suspend any given tile or slab S from a pair of the beams I2 which are spaced apart corre.- sponding to the width of the tile or slab, two or more of the clips I5 are employed at one edge of the slab and two or more of the clips I6 are 45..:employed at the other edge of the slab, the foot formations I8 of the clips simply being engaged in the slots I3 of the slab and the hook formations I9 of the clips simply being engag-ed over the beams I2.

Now, in view of the foregoing, it is apparent that after any given tile or slab has been suspended, other tiles or slabs may be suspended in the same manner as the rst tile or slab in edge to edge abutting relationship thereto an-d :in edge to edge abutting relationship to each other, since the spaces above the slots I3 afforded by the recesses It accommodate the clip shanks, thereby permitting the edges of the tiles or slabs to abut, and because, as illustrated in Fig 3, the slots I3 and the recesses lil are amply wide to permit the use, in edge to edge relationship, of one of the clips I5 and one of the clips IS at each of the points-where the tiles or slabs are suspended, it being understood, of course, that at .each of the points of suspension, one of the clips I5 is used for suspending one side of one of the tiles or slabs and one of the clips I6 is used for suspending the adjacent side of an adjacent tile or slab.

While the tiles or slabs may be suspended at all four o1" their edges, this is not necessary and they may be, and. preferably are, suspended only at two opposite edges. In any event, assuming that there has been erected a complete ceiling vcomposed of tiles or slabs suspended in the manner illustrated and described, it is apparent that if, for any reason, it is desired to obtain access to the space above the ceiling and below the oor I I?, this may readily be done. at any desired point and without harm to the ceiling, simply by pressing any one or more of the tiles or slabs upwardly above the plane of the ceiling and by then shifting the same laterally. Moreover, it is further apparent that to replace any tile or slab which may have been removed in the manner stated, all that is necessary is to again shift the tile or slab laterally into alinement with the hole in the ceiling from which it was removed and then release it, whereupon it will drop into its operative position. Thus, it is manifest that by means of the present tiles or slabs and the present suspending means, a ceiling may quickly and easily be erected by unskilled labor and that whenever it is desired to open any part of the ceiling for any desired purpose, this may quickly and easily be done without in any way damaging the ceiling.

Preferably, but not necessarily, the present tiles or slabs have their upper and lower corners chamfered or beveled as indicated at 20. This serves practically to avoid chipping' of said corners during handling of the tiles or slabs, especially when they are beingplaoed in or removed from a ceiling, besides providing attractively finished joints between the tiles or slabs at the bottom of the ceiling and joint channels at the top of the ceiling into which any suitable material may beplaced to seal the joints.

Heretofore the clips for suspending ceiling tiles or slabs have been exposed at the under sides of the tiles or slabs, necessitating the application of a coating of plaster to the under faces of the tiles to cover the exposed portions of the clips. This has proved quite disadvantageous not only from the standpoint of the time and expense involved in applying the plaster, but from the standpoint that the plaster necessarily had to be broken to permit the removal of any given tile or slab to afford access to the space above the ceiling. According to the present construction the clips are not in any way exposed at the bottoms of the tiles or slabs and therefore any necessity of applying plaster to the under sides of the tiles or slabs is avoided. Moreover, since the bottom portions of the present clips are conined between the slabs and are disposed entirely above the bottom faces of the tiles or slabs, they are well protected by the tiles or slabs against iire.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 7 to 13 of the drawings, it will be observed that the construction is very similar to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, except that one-piece clips 2l having at their bottoms foot portions 22 extending laterally in opposite directions from their Shanks 23, are individually employed in the same manner as pairs of the clips I5 and I6 for suspending the adjacent edge portions of adjacent tiles or slabs S in spaced apart rows, and that between the spaced rows of tiles or slabs S' thus suspended are other rows of tiles or slabs S2 which are suspended from the side edges of the tiles or slabs S by means of substantialiy Z-shaped clips designated as 2li, the

said clips 243 each having a lateral foot portion 25 to afford desired access to the space above the ceiling. In other respects the ceiling structure illustrated in Figs. '7 to 11 possesses all of the advantages of the ceiling structure illustrated in Figs. l to 6.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction rnay be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

1. A ceiling structure comprising spaced suspended tiles, other tiles intermediate said rst mentioned tiles having slots opening through their edges above their bottoms and below their tops, and clips supported upon the tops of said first mentioned tiles and having foot portions engaged in the slots of said second mentioned tiles whereby the latter are supported from said rst mentioned tiles for free upward movement relative thereto.

2. A ceiling structure comprising spaced tiles suspended for free individual upward movement from the ceiling, and other tiles between said rst mentioned tiles suspended therefrom for free individual upward displacement relative thereto.

3. A ceiling structure comprising spaced suspended tiles, other tiles between said first mentioned tiles, and clips having portions overlying portions of said rst mentioned tiles and other portions underlying portions of said second mentioned tiles, whereby said second mentioned tiles are suspended from said first mentioned tiles for upward displacement relative to the latter tiles to aord a ceiling opening.

4. A ceiling structure as set forth in claim 3 in which certain of the tiles have edge recesses accommodating the clips and permitting the tiles to be disposed in edge to edge abutting relationship.

5. A ceiling structure comprising hanger supports mounted to provide unobstructed vertical and lateral hanger clearance space above the same, ceiling tiles each having a slot opening through the side edge thereof and said tiles being disposed in a common plane in edge to edge relationship and hangers for suspending said tiles from said supports, said hangers each having a lower laterally offset portion for engaging in the said slot of the tiles and also having downwardly opening hook portions at their upper ends for engaging said supports to permit the free upward movement of the hangers into said clearance space to permit selected tiles carried thereby to be displaced upwardly and laterally relative to the normal plane of the ceiling to obtain access to the space above said selected or other tiles.

RAFAEL GUASTAVINO. 

